Two Themes
Anyone planning to put a luxury home on the market in the spring will start thinking about it months in advance under normal conditions. Since conditions in the real estate market are anything but normal now, Christmas is not too early to begin planning a market launch in the spring.
The Under-performing Durham market.
Two themes have been emphasized in this blog which has been targeted primarily at homeowners in Durham. The first theme is that the relatively poor performance of the luxury market in Durham compared to its neighboring communities is primarily the result of an out of date image of the community. There have been many posts on why the reality behind the image has changed substantially and the real estate community must do its part in advancing a newer, more flattering image. There is no shortage of material to support this theme.
Better marketing.
The other theme has to do with the need to shift to more sophisticated marketing in a slow market. Even without a nationally depressed market, the Durham community is competing with communities that don’t have the burden of the lingering image problem that it is saddled with.
To finish up the first year of the Durham Luxury Real Estate Report, I’ve outlined a series of posts that relate to this second theme. Much of the substance of these posts can be found in more detail in the Durham Luxury Home Report, which was penned early last Spring, but these posts will include some new tips that have been learned in the intervening months.
The Marketing Plan
As a veteran marketer who had worked in many industries I was initially surprised when I began my real estate career by how superficial the marketing plans were that we were taught to prepare for listing presentations to potential sellers. What I had failed to take into account was that in a sellers market with more buyers than sellers, you don’t have to be too sophisticated to get a home sold in a reasonable amount of time. If you don’t know any better, the only option in times like these is to simply wait for the market to improve. But if you really want to get your property sold the only answer is to be more competitive.
With that in mind, here are the topics that we will deal with in the next couple of weeks in the hopes that they will offer a few insights into what a more sophisticated marketing plan would look like.
1. The importance of correct pricing. Pricing in the luxury market is different that pricing in a commodity development. It may still be more art than science but the exercise of going through a pricing analysis is important for both positioning and future negotiations.
2. The Certified Home. BMW and other high end autos do it with “previously owned” autos and new home builders usually provide guarantees, so why shouldn’t homeowners give themselves an edge in the marketplace by providing similar assurances of quality?
3. Web Presence. How can you leverage the ubiquitous nature of the internet to compete more effectively?
4. Positioning and Promoting. Some simple copy writing techniques for positioning and promoting the real value in a luxury property.
5. Channel Marketing. Most really large companies spend enormous amounts of money marketing to their distribution channels. Is there an equivalent strategy in residential real estate?
And here’s a tip…
that’s probably not worthy of a separate blog post. During the holiday season we often put our best foot forward for family and guests and decorate our homes for the festivities. Get some good pictures of these decorations without people in them. They may come in handy in creating a theme for promotional material if and when you decide to put your home on the market.
I borrowed the picture of the Christmas tree at the top of the post from a Christmas Tree Service in San Diego. This is much more attractive than bare stairs.
